


The Asylum

by An_Astrological_Paradox



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:27:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22344838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/An_Astrological_Paradox/pseuds/An_Astrological_Paradox
Summary: Alternative Universe. After Nibelhamn is burned to the ground, Sephiroth and Zack are woken up inside of the ShinRa Mansion, and Cloud is suffering from severe Mako poisoning. A scientist, a nurse, and two Turks help them escape the Mansion, just for all to end up in an asylum in Midgar. Inside of the asylum, Sephiroth and Zack learn truths they didn't want to know. Cloud becomes a victim of his own mind while Aerith starts to question everything. Tseng and Reno wonders why they're still with ShinRa.*Dark Themed, very descriptive medical procedures inside.
Relationships: Sephiroth/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	1. The Great Escape

**Author's Note:**

> Before anyone gets angry, let me just say that I love Cloud. I absolutely adore him. If he was real I'd be the sister/best friend he never had. Unfortunately, some people have to experience pain to become stronger. He will get better and stronger, I promise. 
> 
> As said in the summary, it's dark themed.

**Author Note: I don't own Final Fantasy VII. Square Enix does.**

**Rick belongs to XpaperplaneX. (I'll return him, I promise.)**

**Pairings: Cloud x Sephiroth, Zack x Aeris**

**Rating: M for theme.**

**Let's try an asylum. I’m on an asylum kick. Alternate Universe.** **I’m telling you right now. I absolutely ADORE Cloud, and I hate myself for what I did to him. BUT it’s vital for the plot. I apologize profusely. I’m extremely sorry, and yes I’ve cried writing this.**

Chapter One: The Great Escape.

"Doctor... he's not looking so hot right now..."

"Leave him. I need results, damn it!"

"We had to wait to resuscitate him six times already! Don't you think that it is enough! Assist him!”

"No! He has to learn to 'come back' with the help of the Mako!"

“What? Would you rather see him die then?”

“Oh. Would you look at that? He’s awakening. Lock him back up, I’ll do more tomorrow, don’t bother showing up. You disgust me.”

Professor Hojo dismissed Professor Gast Jr, and walked over to Cloud Strife, who was strapped down to an operating table, hooked up to oxygen, an EKG machine, and an IV of Mako and saline in his arm. Cloud was pale, and bleeding from the numerous new cuts and stitches Hojo plastered on the once barely scarred skin. Cloud already had one scar from when he was stabbed in the abdomen by Sephiroth in the Mt. Nibel reactor.

Sephiroth and Zack Fair were in their own Mako tanks, oxygen masks on their faces so they were not breathing in liquid Mako. Sephiroth was currently heavily sedated, slumped over in his Mako tank since he has always threatened Hojo.

Hojo always thought it would be amusing to taunt injuring and experimenting on Zack or Cloud in front of Sephiroth. 

“It’s all fun and games, Sephiroth, don’t you know! You should have been a scientist like me. Then you’d have fun like me!” Hojo would always tell Sephiroth before sedating him by injecting a sedative into his Mako tank, to be absorbed by his skin. Sephiroth never went down quietly and always needed three times the sedation that an elephant would need before he went down, thanks to the Mako and Jenova cells in his body.

Zack, however, was always alert; Hojo didn’t feel threatened by him. Hojo had always found it amusing that instead of threatening to attack, Zack would pound at the Mako tank he was in, begging and crying to take his friend’s place. Zack really wasn’t as interesting as Cloud is to Hojo.

***Back Story***

Hojo had first become interested in Cloud after reading his file shortly after Cloud had arrived to Shin-Ra for the SOLDIER program. President Shin-Ra allowed Hojo access to Cloud’s file since Cloud was the only recruit from Nibelhamn at Shin-Ra after Hojo took over the science department seventeen years ago. All Hojo said to have access to Cloud’s files was that he was interested in Cloud’s Mako tolerance for SOLDIER and he wanted to keep an eye on Cloud’s tolerance. Hojo had even promised to make Cloud Sephiroth’s second in command if his tolerance was high. 

Because of Cloud’s upbringing in Nibelhamn, along with overhearing Cloud discuss with his peers about how he had always hung out in the Mako caves of Nibelhamn and Mt. Nibel collecting raw Materia without being burned, and the fact that the Mt. Nibel reactor was always leaking into Nibelhamn’s water supply, Hojo studied and watched Cloud without Cloud’s knowledge.

As soon as Hojo heard about Nibelhamn being burned down by Sephiroth, and that Sephiroth had then died, Hojo took the first helicopter into Nibelhamn to first recover Sephiroth’s body to bring back and study in Midgar. But after Hojo heard that Cloud had defeated Sephiroth in the Mt. Nibel reactor after being impaled in the abdomen, Hojo was ecstatic! Cloud managed to lower himself to his feet from three feet in the air, after impaling himself more to get a good grasp on Sephiroth’s katana, Masamune. To hear that Cloud had so much pent up anger and strength to throw Sephiroth into the Mako reactor, Hojo rubbed his hands together. With the President’s approval, Hojo ordered the Turks to take him to Nibelhamn to retrieve Cloud’s body, Zack’s body if Zack was still alive, and Sephiroth’s body if it was found.

After the helicopter landed in Nibelhamn, Hojo and the Turks drove to the reactor. When they arrived at the reactor, Hojo walked inside and noticed that Zack was lying unconscious against damaged, empty Mako tanks. Hojo continued walking into the reactor, and saw Cloud lying on the ground. Hojo noticed that Cloud was holding his abdomen, bleeding profusely, and still breathing. Hojo rubbed his hands together maniacally while standing over Cloud, the wheels turning in Hojo’s mind on how to turn Cloud into the new Sephiroth. After Hojo spent a couple minutes talking to Tseng while leaning over Cloud, Hojo ordered the Turks to take Cloud and Zack back to the mansion, which managed to survive the devastating fire. As Hojo started to leave the reactor, he saw that Sephiroth was face down into the partially empty pit of the reactor, holding something in his right hand by its hair. He ordered Veld of the Turks down to retrieve Sephiroth and bring Sephiroth’s body back to the labs as well.

Walking back out of the reactor, Hojo was thinking of ways to shift the focus of the “Specimen S Studies” of Sephiroth onto Cloud, and name it the “Specimen C Studies”. One way was to get Cloud to reproduce with his childhood friend Tifa Lockheart, since she too was exposed to pure Mako her whole life. Unfortunately for Hojo, Tifa was carried out and away from Nibelhamn by some man named Zangan before Hojo could even get to her.

***

“It’s such a shame that I lost that Tifa girl, Cloud and Tifa could have reproduced and given me a better specimen than what Sephiroth and that Ancient, Aerith could have ever given me! All that pure Mako in their bloodstreams would have given Jenova and me the perfect Cetra-Human half-breed!” Hojo would always tell Zack before sedating and experimenting on Cloud.

Cloud has always, unfortunately, been Hojo’s favorite victim.

***Back Story***

The very first time Cloud had woken up inside of his Mako tank, Cloud rightfully panicked. When Hojo entered the passcode into the keypad of Cloud’s Mako tank and the tank opened up, Cloud kicked Hojo square in the face, causing Hojo to fall onto his back and cusp his nose since Cloud had broken Hojo’s nose. Cloud ran out of the tank, and almost made it to the stairs of the lab before a different lab assistant ran down the stairs towards Cloud. When the assistant ran into Cloud on purpose to prevent his escape, the assistant had tackled Cloud, hard, causing them both to hit the ground. Cloud was knocked unconscious immediately, since the assistant was _much_ heavier than Cloud.

After that attempt, Hojo made sure there were at least three assistants with him when he opened up Cloud’s tank so Cloud couldn’t run off again. But Cloud sure did put up a fight, anyways! Cloud would always kick, cry, punch, bite, spit and scratch at Hojo and his assistants. At first, Hojo thought it was hilarious and would taunt “aww look at the feisty little kitten, all scared! Don’t worry, you’ll be asleep soon!” as Cloud was being forced to an operating table. Cloud had to have all of his limbs forced down by Hojo and his assistants, so he could be strapped down to the operation table. Hojo would always be the last person Cloud would see before Hojo put a sedation mask over his face for the anesthesia. Cloud always made sure to fight Hojo on that, too. Cloud already hated having a mask over his face even before this, so he always tried to turn his face away. But one of Hojo’s assistants would press their hands against his cheeks and force Cloud to look up so Hojo could put the sedation mask on. Two minutes later, Cloud would be sedated and Hojo would begin his experimentation. 

However, after about six months of this fight with Cloud, Hojo grew bored of Cloud’s “temper tantrums” and made Cloud soak in a Mako tank for four days without food or water. That, along with being injected with Jenova Cells after being captured and experimented on, caused Cloud to succumb to Mako poisoning.

***

So here Zack was, in his Mako tank, crying silent tears. He watched, helplessly, as his best friend "died" six times today, countless times in the past two years. Zack was truly scared for Cloud's life! Would Cloud even _live_ after all of this, if they even made it out alive, anyway? Would Cloud even be ‘normal’? Or would he have a disability/handicap? Either way, Zack vowed that he would take care of Cloud, regardless of how Cloud faired out. Cloud has been in his Mako poison coma for almost two years now. Zack attempted to kick at his tank and scream again, but his screams were falling on deaf ears. Zack just wasn't _strong_ enough to make as much ruckus as Sephiroth made.

As for Cloud, Zack sadly mused to himself, Cloud is probably wishing he _was_ killed the moment Sephiroth impaled him with Masamune back in the reactor.

Then Cloud _wouldn't_ be here.

Then Cloud _wouldn't_ be suffering.

Best of all, Cloud would be _free._

Of course, Cloud was unconscious at the moment.

_When isn’t he unconscious! It’s only been almost two years, idiot._ Zack chided himself.

Hell, Zack wasn’t even _sure_ Cloud was there mentally anymore. With how pale Cloud is, for the amount of blood that he was forced to shed, and the fact that the wound Sephiroth caused in the reactor failed to heal properly _,_ it would be a bleeding _miracle_ if Cloud made it out alive with his mental state intact! Zack did recall from Biology class that blood loss and the lack of oxygen could cause brain damage. Zack had to wonder, too: would Cloud even remember the incident at Mt. Nibel? Would he remember the burning down of Nibelhamn?

Glaring at Hojo after realizing he just wasn’t getting under Hojo’s skin; Zack watched helplessly as Hojo released Cloud from the restraints that were holding him to the operation table, and walked away. Hojo was not giving a care in the world that Cloud was slipping off the table to the floor. The oxygen mask on Cloud’s face snapped off his face, and the sensors of the EKG machine were ripped out of the machine, causing the machine to shut itself down. The IV in Cloud’s arm was ripped out as he was slipping. The massive amount of blood from Cloud was assisting him in his fall. Professor Gast Jr noticed this from an equipment table ten feet from Hojo, and ran towards Cloud to prevent him from falling to the floor. Hojo, noticing the reaction from Gast Jr, snickered.

"Your father was as pathetic as you. You two are always giving a shit about my experiments, never caring enough about science. Son, you'll fail just as bad as your father if you keep this up." Hojo spat, washing his hands.

Gast Jr said nothing from his kneeling position on the ground. He didn't want to acknowledge that _monster_ anymore! Instead, Gast Jr held onto Cloud, and then removed his lab coat slowly once he had a grip on Cloud. Gast Jr proceeded to cover Cloud up with his lab coat until that _creep_ left the laboratory. Zack watched this display, and was _angry_ that it was not himself holding Cloud.

Gast Jr noticed that Zack was glaring at him, and raised his pointer finger on his left hand to Zack, and then used that same finger to point at his head, to communicate that he had a plan. Seeing this, Zack was confused... but watched as Gast Jr placed Cloud on a clean examination table, and wrapped Cloud in a clean blanket. Gast Jr then threw the dirty lab coat onto the floor in disgust, and kicked it out of the way. Gast Jr turned on a heating lamp over Cloud with the hope that it would warm Cloud up since Cloud seemed to be shivering from being cold. 

_After all, a naked, comatose body has a slight difficulty keeping warm on its own..._ Gast Jr thought. _Also doesn’t help that it’s cold in here, plus he was just experimented on, too._

After he was satisfied that Cloud would get _some_ warmth, he walked over to the Mako tank that contained Zack. Wiping his hands on his blood-stained pants, he typed in a pass code that would drain the Mako inside, which will also automatically open the tank after the Mako was drained. Zack continued to watch Gast Jr with confusion in his eyes. Gast Jr motioned that he'll explain as soon as Zack was out of there. After a few minutes, the tank's door opened up, and Zack started to tumble out.

Zack didn't hit the floor, Gast Jr was there to catch him the moment he was free. After catching Zack, Gast Jr wrapped Zack's arms around his neck; Gast Jr wrapping his arms around Zack’s waist. Gast Jr took the oxygen mask off of Zack’s face, and flung it back inside of the tank.

“Don’t even attempt to walk yet, Zack. You’re suffering muscle atrophy in the legs that the Mako hasn’t healed yet. Just hold on and let me do the walking.” Gast Jr said while slowly walking/dragging Zack to Cloud.

Gast Jr didn't even _care_ that it looked like the two of them were hugging right now, Gast Jr figured all three of these poor souls could use a hug! When Gast Jr sat Zack down in a leather office chair with arm rests near Cloud, Gast Jr grabbed a clean blanket and wrapped it around Zack’s shoulders. Zack shifted the blanket down to cover his lap and legs, his legs were cold not his shoulders. Gast Jr walked over to the table Cloud was lying on. Releasing the deep breath that he didn’t even realize he was holding, Gast Jr picked up Cloud, carrying him to Zack, to rest him in Zack’s lap. Gast Jr made sure that Zack’s left arm was supporting Cloud’s neck. Cloud so was weak from the Mako poisoning and experimentation that he was basically as fragile as a newborn! Zack’s right arm was placed across Cloud’s waist to keep him from sliding off his lap. Gast Jr moved Cloud’s arms to rest at his sides, and moved his legs over the right arm of the chair.

"What? Why?" Zack whispered, throat sore and dry. "Won't you get in trouble?"

"I don't care, Zack. I disabled all of the cameras inside of the lab anyways, so who’s going to find out? This is your friend. Be there for your friend. I will check on Sephiroth." Gast Jr said.

"Thank you..." Zack said, hugging Cloud, and burying his face into Cloud's hair. "My friend... Cloud..."

Zack moved his right arm from around Cloud’s waist momentarily, to make sure Cloud's heart was even beating! Cloud felt so cold to Zack, and Zack couldn’t notice the faint rise and fall of Cloud’s chest when he took light breaths. Placing his right hand on the left of Cloud's chest, where his heart should be - _knowing Hojo, the bastard probably moved it or something. I don’t know_ Zack mused while holding his breath. 

Zack finally let his breath go when he felt a rather faint heartbeat and felt the rise and fall of Cloud’s chest. Both very faint, as in Zack literally had to push onto Cloud's chest to _feel_ the beat and feel him take a breath. Wrapping his right arm back around Cloud’s waist, Zack buried his face in Cloud's hair, and started to bawl his eyes out.

"Oh God, Cloud... why you... why couldn't it be me? Why!" Zack cried into Cloud's hair.

"It's because Hojo thinks Cloud has potential to be the 'next Sephiroth', since Hojo now considers Sephiroth to be a "failure", if you will. You _do_ realize Hojo set you all up, right?"

Gast Jr surprised Zack, and Zack looked up with tears running down his face. Blood was smeared on Zack's face as well; there were cuts on Cloud's scalp that were still bleeding.

"What do you mean, Hojo set us all up?" Zack asked, whispering still because of his dry throat.

Gast Jr pulled out a water bottle from the fridge over near the exit of the labs, and handed it to Zack after opening it. Zack took the water bottle into his right hand, and drank it quickly, hiccupping shortly afterwards. He dropped the empty bottle to the ground, and held onto Cloud, tighter. Gast Jr grabbed another clean blanket from a prepped operation table that was reserved for Sephiroth in the morning, and wrapped it around Cloud since Gast Jr noticed Cloud was starting to shiver again. Zack nodded his appreciation, and Gast Jr sat down on the floor in front of Zack.

"What I mean is that Hojo _wanted_ Sephiroth to go crazy, and burn down the town. The residents of Nibelhamn were starting to catch on to his experiments before you guys were assigned to investigate the reactor, and they were putting their foot down and protesting to Shin-Ra.”

“How did the residents even find out anything?” Zack asked.

“Well…” Gast Jr started off, holding back a laugh, “A bunch of Miss Lockheart’s friends became nosey one night, and broke into the Shin-Ra Mansion. Guess these boys were always out roaming the streets and causing trouble at night. Well, one night they heard ‘growls’ coming from the mansion. They wanted to investigate, and broke into the mansion through the front door using a crowbar. When they got inside of the mansion, they had heard more growling coming from the basement. Being curious, the boys went down to the basement to see where exactly the growling was coming from. When they came down into the basement, they saw the Mako tanks with half-human experiments in there – the ones you saw in the reactor. Spooked, the boys ran out of the mansion and hid inside of the water tower. The next morning, the boys ran to Mr. Lockheart’s house after Tifa had left, and told him of their discovery of these labs and what was inside of the mansion.”

“Well. That would explain why Tifa wanted to be our guide so badly… she wanted answers and she was hoping that Sephiroth, Cloud or I would spill the answers.” Zack replied, thoughtful. “Could also explain why she was upset at not seeing Cloud. Even though he was there, he didn’t remove his helmet and kept silent around her since he felt his pride was attacked because he wasn’t in SOLDIER yet. She was probably hoping that if she saw him, she could ask him questions, and he’d give her the answers she wanted, since they were friends.”

“Indeed. Anyhow, to continue the story; when Hojo overheard Tseng mention to Reeve and Cisseni plans to shut down the Shin-Ra Mansion and tell Hojo to execute and destroy all experiments and vacate the mansion, Hojo became infuriated. So, in the twisted, fucked-in-the-head way that Hojo thinks... Hojo planted fake journals in the mansion’s library and left them there for Sephiroth to read. Hojo _knew_ Sephiroth was going to get curious about his actual parents someday. Did you know that Hojo is Sephiroth’s father, and that a scientist named Lucrecia Crescent is Sephiroth's biological mother?" Gast Jr. pointed towards Sephiroth's Mako tank, where he was still dead asleep. “It was also during this time that Hojo ordered his orderlies to move his experiments from the mansion to the reactor.”

“I did not know that, no…” Zack said; eyes wide opened in shock and curiosity. He felt like he was seeing a new side of Sephiroth. _Sephiroth will even see a new side of Sephiroth, won’t he?_

“Hojo twisted this damn world around to fit into his own sick, twisted science-fiction horror story. This is why my buddy Rick and I are _making_ you escape and we are hiding you in an asylum until we can get you somewhere else. We already, Rick and I that is, wrote up a fake story saying that the three of you were showing signs of insanity but potential to be ‘super SOLDIERS’."

"Wait, what; an _asylum_!" Zack muttered. "We can't go to an asylum! Hojo will _surely_ kill us then!" Zack hugged Cloud again, harder.

"No, he won't. Rick fabricated a story that claims that Cloud went insane on him, and then started to attack Rick. We wrote that Rick has enough Mako enhancements to be a SOLDIER Third Class, even though Rick is unenhanced. Then, we wrote that you went after me, since I’m enhanced with enough Mako to be SOLDIER First Class, so you found me to be suitable to abuse, if you will.”

Zack looked at Gast Jr with confusion in his eyes, so Gast Jr explained.

“Yes, I really am enhanced to take on a SOLDIER First Class. We also said that you had tried to attempt to free Sephiroth to assist you and Cloud in busting out of the labs, but I managed to subdue you and Cloud with a mastered Sleep spell before either of you got to Sephiroth. But we both insisted in the fake report to keep the three of you alive, since you show new potential to be the new "super soldiers" that Hojo and President Shin-Ra desire to have.”

“How would Hojo even know Rick? I mean, Rick just works at a normal hospital in Midgar. You don’t, obviously.” Zack asked with confusion and disbelief in his voice. “Hojo knows everyone inside and out of the science department.”

“To answer your question, we wrote that Rick was interested in working for the science department of Shin-Ra and he was my intern. We lied and said that he’s been my intern for the last week which is why Hojo never met him. During that week, I have decided to bring Rick to Nibelhamn to show him what else we did and see if he was still interested and he said that he still was.” Gast Jr sighed and shook his head. “I wrote that I had also intended to introduce Rick to Hojo, but you guys attacked us instead. Look, I don’t know how much of that Hojo will believe, and the plan isn’t exactly perfect. But it’s the best plan that we have right now.” Gast Jr replied.

Looking at his wristwatch, Gast Jr smiled. "Yes, Rick and I are indeed friends. We went to medical school together. On that note, Rick should be here in right about now, to help me help you three escape.”

Just as Gast Jr said 'now’, Rick came running down the stairs, and stopped as soon as he walked into the lab.

"Cloud? Cloud!" Rick shouted out, looking around quickly. He had never been here before, and honestly he’s glad this will be his only time in the Shin-Ra Mansion!

Rick knew Cloud from a previous encounter four years ago (1), and when Rick found out from Gast Jr what Hojo was doing to one of his favorite patients, Rick couldn't _wait_ to assist.

***Rick’s Backstory***

Rick was the type of nurse you wanted to have around when children, teens and young adults experienced physical abuse, sexual abuse, and/or emotional trauma. Although he didn’t have any children of his own, he still had a natural instinct to comfort them. Rick always had the right words to say, he always knew when to back down and say nothing, and he always knew when to just listen, too. For some reason though, after triaging Cloud that one night in Midgar and had been assigned to be Cloud’s nurse the whole time Cloud was in the hospital, the fatherly instinct that Rick possessed had attached Rick to Cloud like Cloud was his own son. Rick always made it a mission to visit Cloud as much as he could.

Rick was there the day when Cloud told his psychologist, while he was in the hospital, that he didn’t have a father and the other kids, besides Tifa, would always make fun of him for it. “That’s why I always doubted myself. Because all of my peers picked on me since I had no father.” Rick remembered Cloud telling the psychologist. Rick told Cloud later that day that if he needed, Cloud could ask Rick anything he would have asked his own father if he had one.

***

Zack looked up when he heard Rick call out.

"Rick! Oh my God, he's over here, and you're _not_ going to like what you see..." Zack said.

Rick ran over to Zack, who was protective of Cloud. Rick silently asked for permission from Zack to be able to move and examine Cloud. Zack reluctantly let go of Cloud, so Rick could pick up Cloud from Zack's lap. Zack _only_ allowed it, since he knew Rick was a trustworthy and caring nurse, and he had taken care of Cloud before.

After Rick moved Cloud from Zack’s lap, Zack shifted the blanket that was on his lap up to his waist, and wrapped the blanket around his waist, to replace the lost warmth that Cloud has been slowing providing.

_Or was it me providing warmth to Cloud? Regardless, poor kid…_ Zack shook his head and sighed.

After Rick laid Cloud down on a clean examination table, Rick started to examine Cloud to see, and make a mental note of, the extent of damages inflicted by Hojo.

Gast Jr rose off the floor to release Sephiroth from his Mako tank. Gast Jr already injected a serum to into Sephiroth’s tank to reverse the sedation he was currently under. As Gast Jr was punching in the pass code, Rick shouted "Holy fuck! What in the Hell happened to my star patient!"** 

Zack stood up, wrapping the blanket tighter around his waist. Holding the blanket in place, Zack slowly walked towards Rick. Rick had the blanket that was covering Cloud resting at Cloud’s hips, and Rick was just pale in shock, disbelief... Releasing a deep breath he didn’t even know he was holding, Rick wrapped his left arm around Cloud's shoulders, his right arm around Cloud’s lower back and sat Cloud up to hug him. Zack picked up the blanket that had slipped off of Cloud when Rick sat him up, and place it back around Cloud’s hips. Cloud still deserved some decency - even if in a comatose state! Not that Zack blamed Rick for this, Rick was shocked.

Rick laid Cloud back down onto the table gently. He then took the blanket resting at Cloud’s hips, and straightened back it up to Cloud’s shoulders again. Rick made sure that Cloud was covered from shoulders to toes, and tucked the blanket in tightly under Cloud to help keep him warm under the warming lamp. Rick then rested his left hand onto Cloud’s right hand over the blanket, and sighed.

"Cloud's hand... did it ever fully heal? Poor kid…” Rick ran his right hand over his face, in frustration.

Zack shook his head no. “Not really. He was getting there, though. Sephiroth and Cloud were practicing Katana techniques before we were called off to Nibelhamn.”

“God, what did Cloud, or any of you for that matter, do to deserve being experimented on like this? Trust me, Gast Jr told me everything Hojo’s done to all of you. Cloud is definitely worse now than when I _first_ saw him in triage over four years ago! That's saying a lot, considering that when I wheeled him in from the ambulance to the emergency room, he already looked horrible back then!" Rick squeezed Cloud's right hand, hoping to hear a noise from Cloud, and was disappointed when there was nothing.

Looking at Zack, and sighing in a sense of defeat, he asked sadly "Zack, can you please find me a stethoscope, and a sphygmomanometer? (2) Cloud is way too pale... is he even alive?"

“Yeah, I’ll go and look for those things I’m not even trying to pronounce. Cloud’s alive, thankfully and shockingly.” Zack replied solemnly, and walked away to try and find the equipment Rick had asked for. Meanwhile, Gast Jr was struggling to move Sephiroth, who was starting to come out of his unconscious state, from the Mako tank to the office chair that Zack had vacated. Zack helped out Gast Jr quickly by holding the chair into place, and guiding Gast Jr and Sephiroth to the chair.

After Gast Jr had Sephiroth seated, propped up against the examination table and covered in blankets, he assisted Zack in finding the stethoscope and sphygmomanometer that Rick had asked for. When the equipment was found, Zack handed them to Rick. Rick said thank you, and Zack nodded and walked back towards Gast Jr and Sephiroth.

Rick folded the blanket down from Cloud’s shoulders to his elbows. Wrapping the cuff of the sphygmomanometer around Cloud’s upper right arm and placing the bell of the stethoscope on Cloud’s inner elbow, Rick checked Cloud's blood pressure, which was low - 90/60. Leaving the sphygmomanometer on Cloud's upper right arm, Rick moved the stethoscope’s bell to check for Cloud's heartbeat. He then felt for a pulse in Cloud’s neck which was a faint pulse. Rick closed his eyes, and then shook his head sadly. He wanted to see Cloud again, but _not_ like this!

The last time Rick saw Cloud was two and a half years ago at Cloud’s last psychologist appointment before Cloud was being sent off to Nibelhamn with Zack and Sephiroth. Cloud was so happy, so full of life, laughter and excitement about finally being in a relationship with Sephiroth, and having Zack as a best friend and mentor. Best of all, Cloud was excited about finally being able to visit his mother at home. Cloud even joked about getting his Mom and Rick together for a date someday. Rick remembered telling Cloud “Sure, Cloud! If your mom is cool with dating a kid from Midgar, I’m down for a date!” Cloud had laughed and said she would be.

Now, it looked like Cloud was knocking on Death’s door.

Rick shivered, and closed his eyes. _Focus Rick, focus._ He told himself.

"Well, Cloud is alive, but just barely..." Rick replied softly, sighing again. "Look…” Ricked started off, turning to look at Gast Jr and Zack. “We have to get out of this place now, if Cloud is to make it out of here alive. He won’t have much longer if we don’t get him to the closest hospital in Cosmo Canyon. Forget the asylum for now; he needs medical assistance beyond my expertise!”

“Rick, the asylum that I am sending them to _has_ a hospital! We can’t risk sending them anywhere else, and you know this. Hojo _will_ catch on. Tseng of the Turks was only willing to work with me up to a point.” Gast Jr said, sighing.

“But then _I_ wouldn’t be able to take care of Cloud, and I don’t _want_ Cloud out of my sight again. He’s like a son to me!” Rick said. “Why can’t Tseng allow him to have a Mercy Flight to Midgar Hospital?”

“Because Hojo sticks his nose into what goes on inside Midgar Hospital. That’s why.” Gast Jr scowled at Rick, arms crossed. He then uncrossed his arms, and ran his left hand through his hair while taking a deep breath. Softening his gaze, he looked around the room. He understood Rick’s frustration; Rick has told Gast Jr, as they were plotting the escape; Cloud has been in and out of that hospital for his psychological treatments as an outpatient and often ran into Rick there.

Gast Jr looked Rick in the face, and continued on. “Look, I’ll try to make it so you can be Cloud’s primary nurse at the asylum. I understand that you care for Cloud as if he was your own child, it’s written all over your face. I _shouldn’t_ allow this. You were only supposed to help me help them escape, and help me keep an eye on them on the way to the asylum since I’m not a physician. Let me go outside, and call my associate that works at the Midgar Asylum for the Insane. I’ll have to explain to her that you’re the _only_ one, besides me, to care for Zack, Cloud and Sephiroth. They already have their own private room in Wing W, the criminally insane ward, for their own safety. This is the plan until Tseng and I can work on a step two.”

Zack looked at Gast Jr in disbelief. _Wait, we’re going on the criminally insane floor?_ Zack thought to himself. _Are we going to become criminally insane?_

Just as Zack cleared his throat so he could ask a question to Gast Jr, Sephiroth had woken up completely. Even though Sephiroth’s vision was still slightly blurry and his head felt like someone just finished beating it with a brick, he recognized the outline of Gast Jr.

Sephiroth gripped the examination table that he was propped up against, not even noticing the blankets that were covering him. Sephiroth stood up, and glared towards Gast Jr.

With anger in his voice, he started to threaten Gast Jr. “How dare you, to awaken me.” Sephiroth stammered out, gripping the table he was leaning against since he was unsteady on his feet. “What? Are you and Hojo finally done tormenting my troops and now need a challenge? I should find Masamune right now and maim the two of you!”

Unfazed and growing irritated, Gast Jr snapped out. “Sephiroth, you need to calm down, and calm down right now! I am the reason _why_ you, Zack and Cloud are alive, breathing and awake! I am frustrated, tired, and _dying_ to leave this place far behind. So sit your ass down on that chair!” Gast Jr turned and looked at Rick, missing the glare that Sephiroth shot towards him. 

“Rick, can you examine Sephiroth quickly while I go upstairs to make sure that the ambulance is still here, and tell Tseng that we’re coming? I will also make that call to my associate, to tell her about the new plan.” Without waiting for an answer, Gast Jr walked up the staircase and out of the mansion.

Sephiroth sat back down as soon as Gast Jr mentioned Rick. Sephiroth blinked his eyes a few times to readjust his vision, since his vision was still blurry. When objects and people became clearer, Sephiroth looked right at Rick, who was leaning on an examination table. Sephiroth saw Cloud lying down on the table that Rick was leaning against. Zack was also leaning on the table opposite of Rick. Both of them were looking down at Cloud, frowning.

“Rick… you took care of Cloud four years ago, correct?” Sephiroth asked.

“Yes, I did.” Rick replied, turning around to face Sephiroth. “Gast Jr now assigned me to you, Cloud and Zack to make sure nobody dies on us. I need to know, will you be able to assist Zack in finding clothes for the both of you? It’s cold outside.” Rick replied.

“I am capable to assist Zack, yes. I want the status of Zack and Cloud.” Sephiroth stood back up.

“Zack is fine, if not upset at the situation. As for Cloud; he’s not doing so well. If we don’t leave tonight, Cloud may not make it to the end of the week. We need to get you three to Midgar, and _now.”_ Rick said, looking at Sephiroth.

“No, we are going elsewhere! I refuse to go back to Midgar!” Sephiroth replied.

“It’s a part of our escape plan, Sephiroth! If you three don’t go to Midgar’s Asylum for the Insane, all of you will probably die by the end of the week! I don’t know what Hojo has planned but if what Gast Jr says is true, Hojo will kill you all!” Rick pleaded, hoping to make Sephiroth see his side.

“We’re going to an asylum?” Sephiroth asked in disbelief, and then shook his head. “What! No! We are _not_ going to an asylum!” Sephiroth snapped back.

“Sephiroth, shut up!” Zack yelled from the table, gripping the table to prevent himself from punching the table and hurting Cloud. Zack was still looking at Cloud with tears prickling the back of his eyes.

“Rick _didn’t_ want to send us to the asylum, but Gast Jr said it’s the only way we’re guaranteed to survive! Gast Jr said that they wrote a report saying that Cloud and I tried to attack, and that we’re going to the asylum to get “cured” since we show potential to be the new “super soldier” that Hojo and President Shin-Ra wants! So shut the fuck up, and deal with it! If I have to, and Cloud unwillingly has to, then God damn it so are you!!” Zack snapped out again, angry.

Walking away from the table, Zack screamed an angry, frustrated scream. Frustration at the situation they were in, and frustrated at the situation they were walking into with uncertainty. Zack was screaming so loud that Sephiroth and Rick had to cover their ears. After he was done screaming, he allowed himself to fall to the floor, and just sat there glaring at the floor.

Rick uncovered his ears when he watched Zack fall to the floor, and moved to sit down to the right of Zack. He wrapped his left arm around Zack’s shoulders, and let Zack rest his head onto his left shoulder. Rick looked at Zack before speaking.

“Zack, I know you’re angry and frustrated. I am as well. But, I need you to please help Sephiroth find _something_ for you guys to wear out of here. It’s cold outside, it’s 2AM, and I want to get you guys out of here as soon as possible.”

Zack sniffled softly, and Rick squeezed his shoulder softly.

“It’s okay to also be upset. My shoulders, arms and ears are available for you and Sephiroth. They’ll be available for Cloud too if, and when, he wakes up. I’ll be God-damned if I let anything happen to any of you. You have my word. Okay?”

Zack looked up from the floor, then up at Rick. He nodded his acknowledgement and wiped at his eyes. Rick smiled a sympathetic smile, then let go of Zack’s shoulders to stand up. 

Standing up, Rick held out his right hand to Zack, and Zack took it. Rick helped Zack stand up. After Zack stood up, he stood next to Sephiroth, and they both looked at Rick. Rick quickly smiled a sad smile again, and then sighed.

“I’m going to be honest, don’t bother finding any clothes for Cloud. Just give me your and Sephiroth’s blankets after you are both dressed, and I’ll wrap Cloud up tight to keep him warm. You can even carry Cloud out, if you wish, since he’s your best friend. Hurry though! Gast Jr explained to me that Hojo will be back at 5AM, and I want to make sure we’re on our way to Midgar by then. I know this isn’t the best plan of action, but it’s all we’ve got for now. Please understand…” Rick pleaded.

“I understand, Rick. I really do. I’m just angry on Cloud’s behalf, since he can’t be angry for himself. In the past, it was easy for Cloud to be angry when he was nothing more than an experiment to a psychopath who only saw him as an easy target. Now it’s hard for Cloud to be angry since he died so many times in the past, and then was forcibly resuscitated. Now, he’s in a coma with an unknown mental state and future because of the Mako poisoning. It hurts me to see Cloud like this.” Zack was so wrapped up in his own feelings, he never thought about how Sephiroth felt.

Sephiroth had kept quiet however; he was never really a man of words. Sephiroth looked around the lab, wondering if Gast Jr thought about the cameras watching their escape. He’ll have to ask Gast Jr about this, hopefully he wasn’t stupid and forgot Hojo has this place bugged and under video surveillance. Sephiroth glanced at Cloud lying on the table, and felt his heart drop into his stomach.

_Cloud… what did Hojo do to you?_

“Will his pain _ever_ end?” Rick asked solemnly, looking back at Cloud, who still had the sphygmomanometer on his arm. Cloud’s head was turned towards them, but his eyes were still closed. Rick turned away, sighing once again.

_Looks like he’s just asleep, listening. Can you hear us Cloud? Can you?_ Rick thought to himself, hopeful.

“I hope it does… he has done _nothing_ to deserve this…” Zack sighed. “Why do bad things happen to good people? Cloud is so innocent, so kind-hearted… he didn’t deserve this!”

Zack looked over towards Sephiroth, who was looking at Cloud with sorrow in his eyes. Zack tapped Sephiroth on the shoulder, and Sephiroth looked at him, startled.

“Let’s go, Sephiroth. We have a mission to find ourselves clothes, and to make sure Cloud leaves here, unnoticed and warm.” Sephiroth nodded his acknowledgment, and they left the lab.

After they had left, Rick walked back over to Cloud, and removed the sphygmomanometer from Cloud’s arm. Rick had noticed that some of the cuts Cloud had just a while ago were no longer there. Rick shook his head, this wasn’t normal at all!

“What in the _Hell_ did Hojo do to you, Cloud?” Rick asked, knowing he wouldn’t get a reply.

He took the blanket that was around Cloud’s elbows, and tucked it tightly around his shoulders again. Rick then removed his sweater that he wore over his green scrubs, and placed it over Cloud’s chest. He then moved Cloud’s head to face upwards and adjusted the pillow under his head, to support his neck better. But, it seemed Cloud kept insisting on rolling his head to the right, where Rick was standing, so Rick let it be.

“Come on, guys, I want to leave this place. It’s creeping me out…” Rick said to the empty room.

***

Outside of the mansion, Gast Jr was on his phone explaining the change of plans to his associate, Dr. S who was the lead psychologist of the asylum. Dr. S was not pleased one bit in the changes!

“Gast, god damn it! You know damn well that the budget doesn’t allow us to hire on another nurse! Jesus Christ, if the President finds out I’m screwed! As it is, I’m taking a HUGE risk even allowing this escape to occur!” Dr. S hissed into the phone.

“I know this!” Gast Jr snapped back, smoking a cigarette. He was pacing, and noticing that Tseng and a younger looking Turk were watching him pace. “Dr. S – listen to me. Rick worked with Cloud before, and knows Cloud’s medical history and previous psychology appointments. Can’t we work _something_ out?” Gast Jr. replied.

He heard Dr. S sigh loudly into the phone, and the flick of a lighter from her end. He heard her inhale deeply, and kick at a wall.

“God damn it, Gast Jr. Fine, Rick can come to the asylum as well. Rick will have to work under the books. I’m telling you right now, Gast Jr, and I’m only saying this once.” Dr. S warned; a serious tone to her voice. If she was here, her finger would probably be pointed into his chest, painfully. He silently laughed at that mental image.

“Rick had _better_ be as good as you claim. My ass is on the line. If I am caught sneaking you all in… if I go down… all _five_ of you are going down with me. As soon as you arrive, you had _better_ call me.” She snapped into the phone, and hung up.

Gast Jr. sighed after the phone call. Putting away his PHS, he walked over to the ambulance and nodded at Tseng and Reno, the younger looking Turk. Opening the ambulance doors, he pulled out the stretcher for Cloud to be immediately placed on, and moved out of here. The plan was that they were going to go by ambulance to Cosmo Canyon. Once at Cosmo Canyon, they were going by helicopter, flown by Reno of the Turks, to transport them to Midgar Asylum for the Insane. From there, Rick and Cloud were going to the hospital section to get Cloud stabilized while Gast Jr and Dr. S were going to take Zack and Sephiroth to room W123 in the asylum. Once Cloud was stabilized, Rick and Cloud were going to join Sephiroth and Zack in room W123.

“Always a complicated situation, no matter how easy I try to make it. I want a damn vacation…” Gast Jr said to Tseng, while waiting for his charges to come out. Tseng just nodded at Gast Jr, watching as both Gast Jr and Reno lit up a cigarette each.

Looking around at the ashes that were once Nibelhamn, and seeing the rebuilding efforts starting, Gast Jr shivered.

_Hurry it the Hell up, guys. I want to get the fuck out of here!_ Gast Jr thought, avoiding eye contact with Reno and Tseng.

***

Zack and Sephiroth had returned to the labs, fully dressed and armed with their weapons. When they walked over to Rick, they handed Rick their blankets. They had assisted Rick by holding up Cloud so Rick could place a blanket behind Cloud’s back. They laid Cloud back down, and Rick wrapped and loosely tied the blanket on Cloud’s chest. With the second blanket, Rick wrapped it around the top of Cloud’s head to conceal his identity and keep his head warm. After Rick was satisfied that Cloud would be warm, yet easily accessed to should he go into cardiac arrest on their way to Cosmo Canyon, Rick picked up Cloud from off the lab table and prepared to walk out of the labs.

Before they left, Sephiroth had warned Rick that cardiac arrest could happen with Mako withdrawal that he was sure Cloud would suffer from while travelling. Sephiroth grabbed a cooler from out of the medical fridge that contained some Mako and needles for withdrawal symptoms.

“We’ll need this, I’m sure.” Sephiroth said, and placed the cooler on his back since the cooler was wearable like a backpack.

Nodding, Rick started to climb up the stairs, being careful not to drop Cloud. Sephiroth and Zack were behind him, observant but their weapons weren’t drawn.

As they were walking up the spiral staircase, Sephiroth reflected on how he was hesitant to show affection to Cloud inside of the labs, even though they were in a relationship. Sephiroth won’t lie, seeing Cloud comatose was _tearing_ him apart inside! All he wanted to do was carry Cloud out and away from here, but he knew that he, alone, couldn’t help Cloud. Zack had explained everything as they looked for their clothes, equipment and weapons.

Sephiroth held the stethoscope and sphygmomanometer that Rick had handed him before they left the labs. Zack had fallen into place behind Sephiroth once they exited the stairwell, his head hung low. Nobody was happy. Sephiroth soon quickened his pace so that he was walking besides Rick, and saw that Cloud’s left hand was hanging out from the blanket. Sephiroth looked at Rick, and Rick gave a sad smile.

“Sephiroth, I know about you and Cloud. You don’t have to be ashamed. I may be a nurse, but I’m not a close-minded individual. I know you’re tearing yourself apart inside, I can see you want to cry but can’t. If you were to cry in the ambulance, I wouldn’t hold it against you.”

“Cloud is not the only reason _why_ I currently hate myself. As Zack and I were looking for our uniforms, Zack told me what Gast Jr had said, what he has done, and about the plan. Zack had also told me that Cloud lost his _mother_ because I went insane and burned down the damn town. All because I was fed lies by Hojo, and I believed said lies. Try living with that on your mind, and knowing that your boyfriend could possibly hate you because his mother and his friend’s father died because of you. That his friend will have a permanent scar across her chest and stomach because of you! I saw the anger in Cloud’s eyes! Did you see the scar on Cloud’s abdomen? _I did that because I thought some alien being was my damn mother._ I called Cloud a traitor; he’s not going to love me anymore!” Sephiroth vented, angry at himself.

“You don’t know that, Sephiroth. You have to give Cloud time to heal if he wakes up from this. When he’s more alert, more accepting, more like himself, explain to Cloud what happened. I will be willing to be there to help you out with this, and I’m sure Zack will help too. Cloud just doesn’t strike me as the type to hate someone after the story has been explained. But I’m not going to promise that the relationship is going to pick up where it left off. You’re going to have to earn his trust again.” Rick said.

Sephiroth sighed, and knew Rick was right. Thanking Rick for his advice, Sephiroth fell back in line to the point he was now walking behind Zack, his head hung low.

“Sephiroth, don’t beat yourself up over this. This is all Hojo’s fault. Sure, Cloud’s going to be pissed, but he’ll learn that it’s not your fault.” Zack said.

“I wish I could believe you…” Sephiroth started, but then Rick’s back hit the wall of the hallway they were currently in, and Rick shouted out to Sephiroth and Zack.

“Hey! I need someone’s help over here! He’s starting to have a seizure!” Rick yelled, placing Cloud on the ground, away from the wall so he would not injure himself.

Sephiroth and Zack ran over to where Rick was, and Sephiroth moved to Cloud’s shoulders, taking the blankets off of Cloud’s shoulders, head, and arms. He then stepped back to make sure Cloud wouldn’t injure himself. Rick moved out of the way while placing Cloud on his side, to help keep Cloud’s airway open. Zack moved down and stood by Cloud’s legs to free his legs from the blanket, while making sure he wouldn’t kick the wall and injure himself. Sephiroth and Zack both knew that if they prevented Cloud from moving, he _can injure_ himself. This is why his arms and legs were free. Rick ran back to the labs, since they weren’t far from the lab at all, and found some anti-seizure medication to administer through a needle, to stop the seizure and prevent another one. As Rick was doing this, Sephiroth was talking to Cloud.

“Hey, hey, Cloud! Calm down!” Sephiroth said, panicked. “It’s Zack and I, we’re here! Rick’s going to give you some medication, please stop.” He pleaded.

“Ngh… no, stop… pain…” Cloud muttered out, as he was thrashing about. The blankets that were keeping him warm were bunched up around his stomach and waist. “Hojo… pain…” Cloud opened his eyes briefly, and then closed as Rick was running back with the medication syringe in his hand. Cloud stopped seizing on his own, but Rick administered the medication after using portable hand sanitizer to sterilize his hands and Cloud’s arm where the injection was going.

“Is he okay?” Rick asked after administering the medicine, and recapped the used needle and putting it in his scrub pant’s pocket to dispose of it properly in the ambulance.

“He was talking, pleading to Hojo to stop the pain. Cloud also briefly opened his eyes, and then shut them again. Then he just stopped moving.” Zack replied. “Damn, the blankets are loose…”

“That’s okay. I have to make sure he didn’t hurt himself, and check his vitals. Sephiroth, do you still have the stethoscope and sphygmomanometer?”

“Y-yeah…” Sephiroth muttered out, pulling them out of his jacket’s pocket. He handed them to Rick, who sat over Cloud, after placing Cloud on his back again. Rick had pulled out a little flashlight from his scrub shirt pocket. Rick turned on the flashlight, and lifted up Cloud’s eyelids, shining the light from the flashlight into each eye and was satisfied that at least Cloud’s eyes were dilating like they should when light was flashed into them. Rick then took Cloud’s blood pressure, which was still the same – 90/60. Rick then checked for Cloud’s heartbeat and was satisfied that it was a little stronger than it was in the lab. Even Cloud’s pulse was stronger! Rick put the flashlight back into his pocket after turning it off, and handed the stethoscope and sphygmomanometer back to Sephiroth. Wrapping Cloud back up into the blankets, Rick picked Cloud back up and looked at Sephiroth and Zack, who wore frightened looks on their faces.

“His pulse and heartbeat is stronger. That’s a positive.” Rick said which resulted in Sephiroth and Zack to release their breath. “We really should be going. As for the question you’re afraid to ask, I administered a medication that will prevent Cloud from having another seizure. It’s called Kepra. Thankfully Hojo had some. Did he ever use it?”

“I doubt it. Many of his ‘experiments’ died in seizure.” Zack said.

“Wait, what? Hojo uses people in his experiments, and then fails to revive them? What kind of doctor is this jerk?” Rick asked, in disbelief.

“Obviously, Hojo’s not a good doctor. Scientists don’t care.” Sephiroth deadpanned. “Let’s go, I just want to get out of here.”

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

The rest of the trip out of the mansion was without incident, and eerily silent. When they made it above ground, and away from the mansion, everyone stood in the center of Nibelhamn and looked around. Some of the town was still in ruins, but Zack noticed that there were construction vehicles from Shin-Ra here. They also noticed that some of the houses and the water tower were rebuilt. Sephiroth hung his head down low; walking into the destruction he caused two years ago has slapped him hard in the face.

Sephiroth wanted to run as far away from his mistakes as he possibly could. He couldn’t even look at Cloud right now, the pain in his heart hurt too much. Sephiroth wasn’t one for crying, in fact he rarely cried. But after looking at the aftermath of his destruction, he felt like getting down to his knees and just cry endlessly. Where was Ms. Strife’s body? Where were her ashes?

_In her burnt down house, dumb ass. Where in the hell do you think they are!_ He chided himself.

Zack stood in the middle of the town, in fear. Rick was indifferent. He had an idea of what went on but it didn’t really affect him. Maybe disappointed in the circumstances that caused the destruction but that’s about it.

“This…. No. Why in the _fuck_ is Shin-Ra rebuilding Nibelhamn?” Zack asked, dumbstruck.

“They’re rebuilding Nibelhamn because Shin-Ra has to cover up _my_ mistake; that’s why. No doubt, Shin-Ra has probably conjured some story saying that the residents rioted and burned down the town. Or that Shin-Ra had the Turks burn down the town to eliminate the monsters in Mt. Nibel and relocated all of the residents. They’ll never admit that I, _their ever perfect general,_ went insane and burned down a town, burning almost everyone alive.” Sephiroth spat out.

“Let’s get the Hell out of here before I lose my fucking mind again. I’m tired of Shin-Ra, Nibelhamn, Midgar… fucking _everything_.” Sephiroth spat, pacing himself in front of Rick, Cloud and Zack. He couldn’t bear looking at Rick and Cloud right now, his heart felt like it shattered into a million pieces.

Zack and Rick just stood there, watching Sephiroth speed off ahead of them. Cloud moaned softly in Rick’s arms, and both of them looked at Cloud.

“I wonder if Cloud sensed Sephiroth’s anguish.” Rick asked, adjusting his posture without dropping Cloud. For a light young man, Cloud was starting to get heavy! Rick was starting to feel the pain and stress in his arm and upper back muscles.

“That could be a possibility. Or, because of the Mako poisoning and Jenova cells – and possibly some Cetra cells, who knows with Hojo, Cloud is sensing the pain of the spirits from Nibelhamn? I’ll have to ask Gast Jr for sure what exactly Hojo did to Cloud…” Zack replied.

“I’m afraid to find out, honestly. We better keep going, I don’t want to keep anyone waiting anymore and Cloud is starting to get heavy.”

“Yeah, we had better head off.” Zack agreed.

Leaving the center of town where they stood, they walked another five minutes until they were on the outskirts of town. Rick saw Gast Jr, Sephiroth, Reno and Tseng standing by the ambulance, talking. Tseng noticed the trio coming into view, and he pointed to the stretcher waiting for Cloud. Rick nodded his head, and ran Cloud to the waiting stretcher. Rick gently laid Cloud down, and adjusted the straps down so Cloud would be secure.

When he was done and rechecking that Cloud would be secure, Gast Jr and Rick then gently wheeled the stretcher into the ambulance, and locked it into place so it wouldn’t get loose during travelling. Rick then got in, and sat closest to Cloud, since Tseng ordered no paramedics in the ambulance. Just a driver, a young Turk named Reno. Since Rick was the only one in the group besides Gast Jr who had any real medical training, it made sense that Rick walked into the cabin of the ambulance first, sitting on the right side of the ambulance reserved for paramedics. (3) Sephiroth got in next, on the left side of the ambulance, followed by Zack. Sephiroth handed Rick the portable backpack cooler, along with the stethoscope and sphygmomanometer.

Gast Jr sat in the front of the ambulance after locking the rear doors, next to Reno. Tseng then sat next to Gast Jr and told Reno to drive towards Cosmo Canyon.

“Quickly, and without questions, got it?” Tseng said.

“Whatever you say, Boss. I’m getting paid all the same anyways, yo.” Reno drawled back.

“If Hojo approaches you, you say…?” Tseng asked Reno.

“I say nothing and keep walking. That man freaks me out, and I don’t acknowledge creeps. How you think I survived the slums, yo?” Reno snapped back, glaring at Tseng.

“That’s a smart answer, but you don’t talk about this mission with any other Turk. This is a classified mission, _got it?”_

“Yo. I may be a ‘street rat’, but I’m not stupid Tseng. I _love_ my career choice more than I probably should and I ain’t jeopardizing it.” Reno snapped back, feeling insulted. “Dude, can I have a smoke?”

“You absolutely may not, no! There are flammable liquids and oxygen tanks back there in the cabin!” Tseng said, sighing. “You can have one in Cosmo Canyon. The faster you drive there, the faster you can have one.”

“Fuck man. Hold on tight, yo. About to put pedal to the metal and _zoom_ outta here!”

“Whatever. Just get us there without killing us. I’m going to nap; I’m worn out physically and mentally.” Gast Jr said, closing his eyes. “Just stop fighting with your superior, boy. That’ll get you nowhere in Shin-Ra, so zip it. I have a headache.”

“What! Tseng!” Reno snapped, and Tseng just glared at Reno.

“Drive and keep your eyes on the road.” Tseng said, looking at the road ahead.

Sighing in defeat, Reno focused on the road, and the long drive, ahead. Reno wanted to ask what was so important about saving Sephiroth, Zack and Cloud, since they were pretty much considered dead anyways. But Tseng already told Reno that he wasn’t going to go into detail and it was _bothering_ him.

_I have my ways._ Reno thought to himself, while driving. _I’ll get Tseng to tell me, eventually!_ Smiling to himself, Reno started to drive faster.

***

Inside of the ambulance, Rick proceeded to uncovered Cloud’s head, arms and chest from the blankets. Rick then sanitized his hands and put on medical latex gloves, and then grabbed a tourniquet to place around Cloud’s upper right arm. Finding a good vein, Rick inserted a saline solution IV in Cloud’s right arm to start hydrating him. Recalling Zack’s story about what Hojo did to Cloud, Cloud would definitely be dehydrated. Zack did say they all managed to have liquid nutrients and water pumped into them through tubes three times a day, daily, but it still wasn’t enough and they all lost weight. Especially Cloud, since he been comatose for almost two years.

After the IV was taped into place and the tourniquet removed, Rick hooked Cloud to an EKG machine and an automatic sphygmomanometer that will allow him to keep track of Cloud’s vitals, without feeling like he was pestering Cloud every half hour. Rick placed an O2 sensor device on Cloud’s right pointer finger, to monitor Cloud’s oxygen levels. It was going to be at least a two hour drive from Nibelhamn to Cosmo Canyon, and it was around 3AM. They’ll be airborne towards Midgar around 5AM.

Zack and Sephiroth sat in silence, watching as Rick moved quickly and efficiently without disturbing Cloud. They were trying their hardest not to cry, although Zack could feel his resolve breaking. Sephiroth was feeling his resolve starting to break as well, but he didn’t show it like Zack did. However, it was still rather painful for both of them to see Cloud in this state.

Making sure that all the equipment was in place; Rick sat back and sighed tiredly. What else _could_ he do? Removing his gloves and disposing them in the trash can nearby; Rick rubbed his hands over his face. Hands over his face still, he rested his elbows onto his knees, and sighed. Tseng did warn Rick that it wasn’t going to be pretty, but he’d never assumed it would be this bad! But, being that Rick was just a regular, non-Shin-Ra nurse, there was a lot that Tseng obviously couldn’t tell him while they were flying from Midgar to Cosmo Canyon, then driving from Cosmo Canyon to Nibelhamn. That was respectable. But Tseng did, once they were out of the Shin-Ra owned helicopter and into the Cosmo Canyon owned ambulance, explain everything about Gast Jr, the plan, and how the whole scenario came about.

But Rick didn’t want to think any more about that. They were away from there, and that’s what matters! Sitting up, and resting the back of his head against the wall, Rick closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was so sleepy…

“Rick…” Zack started off quietly, causing Rick to jump slightly.

“I’m sorry!” Zack apologized, but Rick waved it off, smiling. Zack nodded, and continued: “I know I’m asking an impossible question to answer, but, do _you_ honestly think Cloud will make it out of this, mentally intact?” Zack asked, breaking the haunting silence that was only interrupted with the beeping of the machines.

“Honestly, I really don’t know Zack. From a medical standpoint, I can’t even guarantee that Cloud is going to wake up at all.” Rick slouched to that answer, and Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. Rick shook his head and sat up.

Looking at Sephiroth, he asked “What exactly is Mako, anyways? It was vaguely explained to me by Tseng and Gast Jr, but I don’t think I quite understand it fully.”

“Simply put, Mako is a product of the Planet’s Lifestream. The Mako reactors throughout Midgar mine the Mako for Shin-Ra, while also providing electricity throughout the Planet. The reactors aren’t just in Midgar; they’re all over the Planet.” Sephiroth slouched forward slightly, his back was hurting and he was starting to get a slight headache. “Mako is what Materia is made out of.”

“That much I did understand, but thank you. Why did Hojo subject you three to soaking in Mako tanks? What was the purpose?”

“Well,” Sephiroth started off, and winced. Zack and Rick looked over at Sephiroth concerned, but Sephiroth didn’t notice their looks. “The main purpose of Mako in Shin-Ra was for SOLDIERS. We are injected with Mako, so it’ll make us stronger out on the battlefield and heal our wounds faster. With the Mako in us, we can spend less time at a medical camp on base, and be out on the battlefield.” Sephiroth said. “Hojo decided to subject us to the Mako tanks because it kept us locked up and alive between experiments.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that…” Rick said, and Sephiroth snorted. “I know, I’m asking a lot of questions, and I can see you’re getting a headache. I apologize, but as a nurse I need to know. Is there anything that reacts negatively to Mako?”

Sephiroth laughed slightly. “No, there isn’t anything out there that can react violently to Mako, except for the human body. If you can’t handle an initial three rounds of Mako injections in Shin-Ra, you’re kicked out of the SOLDIER program to go elsewhere in Shin-Ra. Or, you could be given a nice pension and sent home. That was a choice for you to make, and you were not injected with Mako anymore.” Sephiroth sat back, leaned his head against the wall, and closed his eyes.

“Why did Hojo pick on Cloud?”

“As Gast Jr explained to me, it’s because Cloud is from Nibelhamn. The Mako reactor on Mt. Nibel had a leak in it. The leaking reactor sent unpurified Mako into the town’s drinking water. Since Cloud and his mother drank, bathed and cooked with that Mako-enhanced water, Hojo wanted to see exactly how _high_ Cloud’s tolerance was. Apparently, Cloud can handle the amount of Mako that is in Sephiroth - which is quite a bit. However, as to why he’s suffering the Mako poisoning and why he’s comatose, it eludes me.” Zack said.

“It’s the Jenova in Cloud.” Sephiroth snapped out. “Hojo planted some of that alien bitch into Cloud, which is why he’s comatose. Jenova, apparently, likes to keep Cloud to herself.” Sephiroth added. “The Mako poisoning is because Hojo practically _drowned_ Cloud’s organs in Mako. He’ll probably need Mako injections for the rest of his life if he wakes up.” Sephiroth was starting to become increasingly irritated. 

“Jenova, what do you mean she’s an ‘alien bitch’? I’m sorry for the questions, but I never heard of this. Remember, I’m just a nurse from a hospital. All I know is healing materias, and medicine.” Rick said.

“Jenova is a creature that was found in space some 2000 years ago. Hojo believes that this “Jenova” thing is to be of Cetra descent. Cetra’s are people who are in tune with the Planet and can communicate with the Planet. President Shin-Ra wanted to utilize this Cetra power to have SOLDIERS locate their enemies through talking to the Planet, and assigned many scientists to this project. Hojo being the worst scientist of them all assigned to this project.” Sephiroth said.

“Sounds like a goddamn fairy tale, if you ask me.” Rick said, shaking his head.

“No kidding.” Zack said, and started to laugh sarcastically. But he stopped himself the moment he saw that Cloud’s right hand was starting to twitch violently. It was the only part of Cloud that was twitching.

“Rick? Why is Cloud’s had twitching?” Zack asked.

“Well, it may be a voluntary reaction from his nerves, considering he’s been in a warm environment for about a half hour now.” Rick started, but Sephiroth cut him off.

“No. That would only be a small role. What’s really going on is that Jenova is talking to him, and she’s also trying to talk to me. It is giving me a headache.” Sephiroth said, and then held his head after lowering it. “Ugh…”

“Hey man, don’t go passing out on me…” Zack said to Sephiroth, but it was too late. Sephiroth’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell forward, slamming his face onto Cloud’s left arm.

When Sephiroth’s face hit Cloud’s left arm, Cloud squeezed his already closed eyes tight, and starting shaking his head to the left, then the right, and continued the left-to-right motion. Rick went to go stand up, but then Cloud started to mumble loudly.

“No! Don’t hurt me! Stop hurting me, please!” Cloud yelled, panicking. “Stop talking to me, shut up! Shut up! Nghhh stop!”

Cloud started kicking and bucking up against the straps of the stretcher to try and break free, all while muttering “no, no, please stop, stop, and don’t hurt me please!” With the current stress that Cloud was suffering from, it has caused his blood pressure, heart rate and pulse to elevate quickly, and dangerously. Cloud knocked the O2 sensor off of his finger as he was struggling to break free from his restraints. His struggles also caused the EKG machine to beep quickly and loudly. Rick told Zack to pull Sephiroth off of Cloud before Sephiroth got hurt.

“Zack, please move Sephiroth _now!_ Cloud’s about to go into cardiac arrest any minute now, and I can’t have Sephiroth lying his head here!” Rick snapped in urgency.

Rick stood up from his seat, and started to frantically look for a defibrillator. Cloud would go into cardiac arrest any minute now, and Rick didn’t want to find the defibrillator last minute. Rick was starting to get worried!

Zack managed to pull Sephiroth off of Cloud, and laid Sephiroth down on the bench. There wasn’t anything to put under Sephiroth’s head to make him comfortable, but Sephiroth was still safe. Rick found the defibrillator, and looked at Zack.

“Zack, please remove the straps off of Cloud, now! If you don’t, he’ll get injured!”

“Right, I’m on it!” Zack said in a panic, and then started removing the straps from around Cloud’s chest, arms and legs.

“Let me go! Let me go!” Cloud screamed at no one in particular, tears falling from his eyes. Cloud then started to thrash about more once the restraints were removed. Cloud’s thrashing about caused his IV to be ripped out of his arm. “Hojo, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!”

“Cloud! It’s me Zack! We’re not in the labs!” Zack yelled in panic, holding Cloud’s right hand into his own right hand. “Listen to me Cloud! STOP or else you’re going to hurt yourself!”

“Forget it Zack, he can’t hear you! Try to hold him down by his shoulders! There’s a needle out loose, and I don’t feel like getting stabbed with it!”

As soon as Rick said that, Gast Jr opened the window from the cab of the ambulance, and demanded to know what was going on. Rick explained that Cloud was about to go into cardiac arrest, but to keep moving, it would do them no good to stop. Rick has been in many ambulances before, during his intern days as a paramedic, so Rick knew he could revive Cloud successfully without any incidents. As Rick was finishing explaining to Gast Jr what was going on, Cloud stopped thrashing about on the stretcher and went still. That’s when the EKG machine starting making a loud wailing noise, indicating that Cloud’s heart has stopped beating.

“Zack, you have to move, now!” Rick snapped in urgency.

Zack quickly moved out of the way, and Rick went right to work. Grabbing the pads of the defibrillator, he placed gel on them, and placed them on Cloud’s chest. Then he hit a button, which sent a bolt of electricity through Cloud, to get his heart beating again. It didn’t work the first time, so he had to do it again. Zack had to look away; he always had to look away. It was never easy for Zack to watch Cloud get resuscitated.

Zack had closed his eyes tight, and covered his ears; he didn’t want to hear the noises! Not too many things scared Zack – but every damn time he saw Cloud go into cardiac arrest at Hojo’s lab, he did the same exact thing. Closed his eyes, covered his ears, and hid by curling into a ball at the bottom of his Mako tube.

But there was no tank to hide in, so Zack had to turn his back. It hurt him to witness Cloud almost dying and being brought back to life. After the fifth time of Rick having to use the defibrillator, Cloud came back to life and Sephiroth started to wake up. Zack was still crying and chanting “Cloud don’t die, please don’t die” over and over, back turned. Rick tapped Zack’s shoulder, causing Zack to jump and turn around quickly.

Zack uncovered his ears, opened his eyes, and didn’t hear the heart monitor machine screaming anymore. It was beeping normally, and Zack let go of his breath, but he didn’t stop the tears.

“It is okay, Zack. Cloud’s still with us. I told you, come Hell or high water, I’m not losing any of you.” Rick said.

“Wh-what happened?” Sephiroth asked, slowly sitting up, and rubbing at the back of his head.

“You passed out. Cloud had an episode, and then went into cardiac arrest.” Rick responded, wiping sweat off his forehead after placing the pads of the defibrillator back on the wall of the ambulance, after cleaning them off. “It took five tries, but Cloud’s back with us.”

“I think it was Jenova. She is mad that we’re doing this. She wants Cloud, and she wants him now.” Sephiroth said. “That would explain the cardiac arrest. She tried to take Cloud, and he was screaming loudly for her to get off of him. Cloud can scream loud, especially when his screaming is in your head… he is seriously hurting. It killed me to hear him screaming and crying inside of my head.”

Rick frowned sympathetically at Sephiroth, while pulling out a new IV line to place into a new spot in Cloud’s right arm. Cloud had sweat on his forehead, so after Rick covered Cloud back up in the blankets he wiped the sweat off Cloud’s forehead with a towel. He then reattached the O2 sensor on Cloud’s finger. Before he sat down, he asked Sephiroth if he should prepare a Mako injection, but Sephiroth shook his head no. Said it wasn’t needed yet.

Rick nodded then he allowed himself to sit back down. As soon as he sat down, he took a deep breath. Then he started to silently cry. Rick crossed his arms next to Cloud, laid his head into his crossed arms, and cried quietly. Zack was still crying, now quietly, but still visibly upset from the incident. Sephiroth was still hazy from the Jenova mind-trip, and could still hear Cloud’s screams in his head. Shaking his head to try and clear his mind of Cloud’s screams and Jenova’s voice, Sephiroth pulled Zack over to him. Zack, needing someone’s shoulder to cry on, just wrapped his arms around Sephiroth's shoulders, and cried hard again into Sephiroth's left shoulder.

\--

**Foot Notes:**

**(1)Rick, like I said, belongs to XpaperplaneX. If you read her story Prisoners of War, you'd get the reference. I'm _not_ just going to give it to you. GO read it! I think she's an amazing writer. Rick is my favorite non-famous OC. ;-) ** **** _Go read Prisoners of War by XpaperplaneX _**

**(2)Sphygmomanometer: The manual device that takes your blood pressure via the nurse squeezing the ball, causing the armband to fill with air and feel like it's crushing your upper arm. I love it.**

**(3)Is this true? I don’t exactly take the time out of my life to study an ambulance. I hate them.**

**Let me explain something about Gast Jr.: I _know_ Professor Gast never had a son, only a daughter (Aerith). I decided to create Gast Jr. as Gast’s son. Aerith obviously can’t be in the lab – it’d make no sense and I’d severely warp the story – as if I am not already ;) Gast needed a son. :) **

**HAPPY THOUGHT TIME: Cloud hugging a little Golden Retriever Pup, smiling. Yes, puppies!**


	2. Welcome to the Asylum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Note: Sorry for Chapter One, but let’s be realistic here. Anything that can stress the body can eventually lead to cardiac arrest. I tend to think what Mako poisoning would feel like; I guess it would be like being dipped into an acid bath while in a coma. But you can feel it burning you, and you can’t scream.
> 
> I don't own Final Fantasy VII. Square Enix does.  
> Rick belongs to XpaperplaneX. (I'll return him, I promise.)  
> Dr. S belongs to me. She's got my attitude.   
> Pairings: Cloud x Sephiroth, Zack x Aeris  
> Rating: M for theme.

After Reno had driven the ambulance to Cosmo Canyon, where the rendezvous point was, he parked. Jumping out of the driver’s seat, he walked approximately five feet away from the ambulance to walk off leg fatigue. Once the fatigue wore off, he stopped walking and crossed his arms behind his head and stretched his back as much as he comfortably could. As soon as Reno started to feel like his back bones were separating and he started to see stars behind his eyes, he relaxed himself. No need to pass out! Reno walked an additional five feet away from the ambulance, while patting his coat pockets for the pack of cigarettes he knew he possessed. Finding them in his right pocket, he pulled one out from the pack, and lit it. He been craving this for hours now, and the first drag felt _amazing_ to him.

That drive was extremely stressful.

Two hours without a cigarette was too much for him, today.

But that drive… Reno smoked his first cigarette quickly. He was never a chain smoker, but at this moment it sounded like a good idea. As soon as he flicked his spent cigarette he had another one lit.

Reno currently had his back turned to the ambulance. He took a deep breath, let it go, and then sucked on his cigarette hard. Having smoked that cigarette to the filter, he flicked it off towards the left of him and lit a third. He wanted some alcohol to go with his cigarettes.

Did Reno mention that the drive was stressful? Only about a million times, it felt like. After he smoked his third cigarette, he flicked it off and turned around back towards the ambulance. Reno turned around in time to see Zack and Sephiroth get out of the ambulance; both of them looking worse than Reno has ever remembered them looking. They both sat down on the sandy ground, Indian-style. Sephiroth kept his eyes on the back of the ambulance. Zack had his elbows resting on his knees, head in his hands. Reno shook his head at Zack; he wasn’t handling any of this well at all!

Reno started walking slowly towards Sephiroth and Zack, but had noticed that Tseng had motioned for him to come over. Reno ran towards Tseng, and when he reached Tseng, he saluted. Tseng nodded, and Reno stood at ease.

“Reno, once we get to Midgar… you must stay with them at the asylum. Rick and Gast Jr are going to have their hands full. Cloud, as you have heard, isn’t doing well at all. They have to stay with Cloud.” Tseng sighed and ran his left hand over his face. “May I have a cigarette, Reno? You know I do not smoke, so this has even taken a toll on me. I did not expect it to get this complicated.”

Reno nodded his acknowledgement, and handed Tseng a cigarette. Reno would usually crack a wise-ass joke right about now to ease the tension in the air, but it would be in bad taste. Even by Reno’s standards.

Tseng lit the cigarette, puffed on it, and looked to the stars. Exhaling, he looked down and coughed. Shaking his head, Tseng continued “Reno, you’re going to be looking after Zack and Sephiroth for a while inside of their room at the asylum. Cloud isn’t going to be up there for a while; he needs to be connected to medical equipment that is in another section of the asylum. By no fault of Cloud’s, the mission has been altered. I’m sorry.”

Reno sighed sadly and shook his head, lighting his fourth cigarette. “Don’t apologize, Boss. I’m honored that you’re leaving me with this responsibility. I will not fail you, Turk’s honor. Jesus, what the Hell did Hojo have against that kid?”

“Reno, Hojo was _obsessed_ with Cloud. I’m just leaving it at that. Please, no more questions. We must hurry back.”

Reno nodded his acknowledgement, and flicked his cigarette along with Tseng. Reno had asked if he could go sit next to Sephiroth and Zack so Tseng let him go. When Reno started walking towards them, Sephiroth just sat there, watching Reno as he was walking towards Zack. Reno chose to ignore Sephiroth’s staring for now and sat down to the left of Zack. He then wrapped his right arm around Zack’s shoulders, and pulled Zack towards him. Zack allowed himself to be pulled towards Reno, but he didn’t remove his head from his hands.

“Thanks, Reno.” Was all Zack said, his voice muffled by his hands.

“No problem, Zack. I only heard what was going on. I’m haunted enough by the sounds. I can’t even _imagine_ what it was like to witness it. I’m sorry, dude.” Reno said, shaking his head.

***Inside of ambulance***

_Cloud had gone into cardiac arrest two more times, for a total of three times inside of the ambulance, as they made their way towards Cosmo Canyon. It would be four in total if you also counted the incident inside of the labs. Reno was honestly surprised that Cloud isn’t dead. Even though Reno should have been focusing on driving, it was hard to do so with the frantic yelling going on around him, along with the sounds of the EKG machine’s warning alarm going off constantly. Reno was proud of himself! He managed to not crash during the chaos._

_Reno had overhead Rick tell Gast Jr and Tseng through the cab window something about how Cloud shouldn't be alive after the third time he went into cardiac arrest. Rick had left the window opened as Gast Jr had explained to Rick that it was because of the Mako helping keep Cloud alive, along with Rick’s intervention._

_“Do you guys have any Mako injections back there?” Gast Jr asked from the front._

_“Yeah, I grabbed some as we left. I’m getting an injection ready now.” Sephiroth replied._

_“Ok. Cloud isn’t accepting the withdrawal well at all. Rick, you need perform an intracardiac injection of Mako now. He may not live past the fourth arrest, and I’m not having another life on my hands.” Gast Jr said._

_“Wouldn’t another method be more beneficial? I mean, it is kind of hard to perform that type of injection here.” Rick asked, but Gast Jr said no, the Mako needed to reach the heart now to stop the attacks. So, Rick had to quickly cleanse the left side of Cloud’s chest with iodine. After he spread iodine all over Cloud’s left side, Rick pulled out a spinal needle, and started to push it through Cloud’s chest, through the fourth intercostal space between his ribs. (1)After the needle was in place, Rick quickly taped it into place, and held out his left hand towards Sephiroth._

_"_ _Sephiroth, please hand it to me now.” Rick said, and Sephiroth nodded._

_At the end of the needle that was now inside of Cloud’s ventricular chamber, there was tubing that allowed medications to be injected into it. After Sephiroth gave Rick the syringe full of Mako, he pushed the needle into the tubing, and gave Cloud the Mako injection. Rick disposed of the needle and hoped like Hell this worked! He doesn’t think Cloud will survive the next arrest, if it happens, Mako or not. The human body can only take so much artificial stimulation before it caves into death._

_Rick knew it came with the territory; however, he still hated declaring a time of death. He always ended up, after his shift, contemplating his own mortality._

_Zack was under a sleep spell, since Cloud’s second arrest. He had been under the spell for a good hour now, his panic attacks weren’t benefitting anyone, and was making everything twice as stressful! After Sephiroth cast the spell, he looked at Rick and said “Zack could use the nap anyways” as he lay, then buckled, Zack onto the bench he was now sleeping on._

_Rick really did like Zack, but he was relieved that Zack wasn’t causing anymore unnecessary panic! With the tense environment surrounding everyone, Zack screaming in everyone’s ears to hurry and save Cloud was not helping. Sephiroth had to yell at Zack to stand down a few times. He finally cast the sleep spell after Zack panicked and said that nobody was moving fast enough and that Cloud could die!_

_Sephiroth, now that Zack was asleep, was definitely helpful. He had given Rick everything that he needed, when it was asked for. Rick figured as a General, Sephiroth has learned to disconnect from all of the panic around him until later and could process in peace. Sephiroth had also mentioned, during the short calm periods, how he knew a lot of medical terms, procedures and equipment from his many visits to Hojo’s labs his whole life._

_After Cloud was stabilized from the operation performed on him, Rick had sat back down, tensely. Sephiroth nodded at him, and said ‘thank you for everything, Rick. We all appreciate it.’_

_He looked at Sephiroth and solemnly said “I care about Cloud as the son I never had, so I’m glad to intervene any time that I can. But I’m not going to lie; I’m almost at my wit’s end. I am going to be honest with you, Sephiroth. If Cloud goes into cardiac arrest again, I don’t know if I can resuscitate him again. I’m afraid I’m causing more damage instead of helping.”_

_Sephiroth just stared at Rick, feeling like he was just slapped in the face. But he saw the pain in Rick’s face, and understood where he was coming from. He was getting ready to undue the sleep spell on Zack, but decided against it. Leaving Zack where he was, Sephiroth carefully maneuvered himself around the tail end of Cloud’s stretcher to sit down next to Rick. Rick now had his head in his hands, silently crying._

_Sephiroth wasn’t overly affectionate, especially towards people he barely knew. However, this was a time that called for providing any kind of support. Sitting to the left of Rick, Sephiroth placed his right arm around Rick’s shoulders, and pulled Rick towards him. Rick still had his head in his hands, frustrated beyond belief. Removing his hands from his face, he rested his head on Sephiroth’s right shoulder, and sighed sadly._

_“I understand, Rick. It’s not news anyone wants to say or hear, but it is an unfortunate reality. I have often been in situations where I’ve seen some of my best SOLDIER’s die because I had to order the end of revival methods. It never gets easy.”_

_“I knew you’d understand, Sephiroth. Please promise me that after you wake Zack, you won’t tell him what I had just said. He’ll kill me. I really hope the injection will work, I really don’t think I can do this a fourth time. I’m sorry.”_

_“No apologies are needed, I understand your side. I promise to not say a word. Thank you.”_

***

“Just give me a cigarette. I’m… I just want to fucking forget what I do remember.” Zack snapped, and then glared at Sephiroth. “Thanks for the sleep spell, _sir_. I only missed what the _fuck_ was going on but oh-kay. Thanks.” He snapped out sarcastically while giving Sephiroth an “okay” gesture with his left hand. Zack also rolled his eyes at him. Sephiroth raised his right eyebrow at Zack with a ‘check your attitude’ look on his face.

Reno nodded his acknowledgement and handed Zack a cigarette. Again, he would have made a crack at Zack for smoking, but it would have been in bad taste. Reno pointed his pack towards Sephiroth, asking the silent question. Reno was surprised when Sephiroth reached for a cigarette, and lit it when Zack handed him Reno’s lighter. He became even more surprised when Sephiroth said “Thank you.”

When Reno received his cigarettes and lighter back, he lit another one. Any more shocks or surprises today, and he was certain that he’d be lying next to Cloud in the medical wing of the asylum.

After Sephiroth lit his cigarette, he looked back at Zack and snapped at him.

“How would you have felt if it was me panicking and being hysterical in a delicate situation? Would you have also put me under a sleep spell to help calm the already stressful environment down? I could only imagine the hysterics you’d have after the intracardiac procedure performed! You probably would have severely injured Cloud!”

Zack just glared, without giving a reply. He knew Sephiroth was correct for the most part, but he felt like it still wasn’t quite fair to him! When it came to anything requiring delicacy or surgery, Zack would have put himself in a sleep spell or asked for it! But what was done was done, and Zack still wanted to sulk for a while.

Reno shook his head of what transpired; he didn’t want to think about it anymore. Keeping his eyes on the ambulance, he watched as Rick jumped out of the ambulance, and then faced it. He reached in to grab the tail end of the stretcher. When the stretcher was wheeled out, Reno saw that Cloud was covered from head to toe in blankets again. Cloud’s IV bag of saline was lying on top of him, it couldn't be hung up.

Gast Jr hopped out of the ambulance after Cloud was safety out, and the original paramedic team that owned the ambulance stood outside of it, speaking to Rick. Rick explained what medications and equipment he had to use, and volunteered to send money to them to help offset the costs. The paramedics told him that it was unnecessary; Tseng had already paid for the use of the ambulance and everything inside of it. He even explained what happened inside, and how after everything calmed down he was able to clean up the ambulance and the equipment he used. He went to apologize for the fact that he had to take the stretcher, but they said it was okay and not to worry. Anything to save lives, the paramedics had said, shaking Rick’s hand. After Rick said thank you to them, the ambulance drove off, heading back to Cosmo Canyon.

Gast Jr and Rick then nodded at each other, and wheeled the stretcher over to the medical helicopter that Tseng was leaning against. Tseng opened the side of the helicopter so Cloud could be wheeled into it. Gast Jr climb inside of the helicopter first, and then lifted up the head of the stretcher after checking that Cloud’s head wouldn’t move. Rick lifted up the tail end, and leveled the stretcher so it would wheel peacefully inside. When the stretcher was secured into the helicopter, Rick hopped in and sanitized his hands, then put on new medical gloves. He proceeded to hook Cloud back up to a new EKG monitor, and attached a new O2 sensor to Cloud’s right finger. Removing the saline IV bag from off of Cloud’s chest, he hung it on a pole. He then pulled a new saline bag out of the medical shelves, the one Cloud has attached to him now is almost empty. This is Cloud’s fifth bag of saline solution that will be injected into him.

Sephiroth and Zack then hopped into the helicopter, sitting on the bench to the right side of Cloud since Gast Jr and Rick were sitting on the bench to the left of him. The left bench was closer to Cloud then the right bench was. Tseng motioned for Reno to take the pilot seat of the helicopter, as he shut the door to the cab of the helicopter. Tseng was the copilot of the helicopter. Speaking though the overhead speakers, Tseng asked that everyone put on the headsets that were hanging on the wall above their heads, so everyone could be heard over the engines and nobody would suffer hearing damage. They had to confirm through the headset that it was on before liftoff. 

Rick, after placing his and Cloud’s headset on, remained focused on securing Cloud for liftoff so he wouldn’t have a minor panic attack. If Rick thought he was frightened in the ambulance, he had a _new_ fear in the helicopter. First off, Rick was _never_ a flight nurse! He was not good at keeping steady feet inside of a helicopter. Second, if Cloud were to go into cardiac arrest inside of the helicopter, Rick would be afraid that he wouldn't be able to intervene. Even though he had told Sephiroth that he wouldn’t intervene in the ambulance, he would still do so anyways, and save Cloud’s life! Rick would chalk that statement he made in the ambulance up to the fact he’s stressed and tired. 

Rick was startled from his own muses when Tseng spoke into the headsets. Sephiroth, Zack and Gast Jr laughed slightly when they witnessed him jump, and he, to lighten the mood a little, stuck his tongue out at them, smiling.

“Okay, Reno is getting ready to lift off. Is everyone seated and buckled in? I wouldn’t advise unbuckling yourselves and walking around until Reno or I give the okay. We have to make sure we’re at the correct altitude. Obviously though if there’s a medical emergency, you act immediately.”

Everyone had confirmed that they were seated, buckled up, and ‘mic checked’ their headsets. Reno said they were lifting off, and took off to the skies, heading towards Midgar. Reno said that an estimated arrival time to Midgar would be about an hour, so to take naps if anyone was tired. Gast Jr confirmed that he was going to rest his eyes for an hour, the last few months were starting to catch up to him. Rick agreed that he was also going to nap after changing the saline solution IV for Cloud. Rick was just glad to see that Cloud has since stabilized since the procedure in the ambulance, which means that the Mako injection was working. Zack wasn’t tired, due to the sleep spell Sephiroth had placed him under. Sephiroth was tired as well, but he would stay awake to talk to Zack.

Gast Jr and Rick both had, after Rick changed out the bag and disposed of the bag and his gloves, leaned back against the wall to doze off. Zack looked at Sephiroth, and frowned at him in apology. Since the both of them knew sign language, they decided to sign towards each other to keep the headset free from chatter. Turning towards each other, Zack started off first.

_I’m sorry, Sephiroth. I was out of line in Cosmo Canyon._ He signed, looking at the ground briefly.

_I guess I should have given you a warning, but Rick was starting to lose concentration and I had to act quickly._ Sephiroth replied.

Zack sighed. _I guess because I consider Cloud my younger brother, I lost my mind and freaked out._

Sephiroth smiled softly at him. _I understand. I was losing my mind as well._

Zack held out his right hand, and Sephiroth took it into his left. Shaking their hands and nodding at each other in forgiveness, Sephiroth pointed at Gast Jr and Rick and suggested that they too should rest their heads for the rest of the flight to Midgar. Zack agreed; he was starting to get a slight headache. The rest of the flight to Midgar was done in a comfortable silence, with the only sounds being the beeps from the EKG monitor, and the rotors from the helicopter. The flight was pretty uneventful as well.

***

In Midgar, Dr. S was standing on the rooftop of the asylum. She was constantly glancing at her watch and tapping her right foot on the roof, impatiently. When she wasn't glancing at her watch, she would cross her hands across her chest, pace the rooftop, or have a cigarette to release stress.

She wasn't ready to have three "high profile" cases in her asylum! Mako poisoning was not something that she was comfortable with handling, and neither were any of her doctors and nurses. Gast Jr was good with it, that much she knew. She needed to know though, how about Rick? Was Rick good enough with these three that if Gast Jr had to be off of their floor, would he be able to handle the panic attacks that any one of them could experience? He better be; she really can’t spare any extra help! She’ll do it if it is deemed necessary, but she doesn’t want to put any of her nurses and doctors at risk. They are already overwhelmed with their own patients.

Plus, one of them is comatose? Dr. S needed a comatose patient like she needed a nail in the foot. It’s bad enough that she was paying Rick under the table to care for Cloud. If Cloud should die while he is at the asylum, Dr. S would wash her hands of it.

It's not that she's heartless; her heart did bleed when Gast Jr told her Cloud’s backstory. However, with over 5,000 patients to care for, and only 1,000 doctors and nurses employed at her asylum, she just doesn't have the time to care about every single patient who comes her way! Plus, being that they won’t officially be admitted, Cloud wouldn't be allowed to be buried here, should he die while at the asylum. Dr. S has a lot at stake here, should anyone find out!

"God damn it, Gast! Hurry it up; it's fucking cold out here!" She shouted into the air, wrapping her arms around her chest after lighting another cigarette. Doctor coats really don’t keep you that warm…

Dr. S looked up, staring at the lights on the plate above her. It’s funny, she mused to herself, how even though Midgar is nothing more than a city of plates, she can still feel the cold breeze from outside of the plates. As she continued to stare at the plate over her head and the artificial lighting illuminating the sky, she noticed from the corner of her eye a helicopter that was headed her way. She prayed that the helicopter was for her; she wanted to get this done and over with before the population, and her patients, woke up for the day. Uncrossing her arms, she moved her cigarette to her left hand, and ran her right hand through her blonde hair, that ran to the middle of her back. Daybreak was coming, and when she saw the helicopter descending towards her, she knew this was the helicopter she was waiting for.

Taking a deep breath, and flicking the spent cigarette off of the rooftop, she ducked under the doorway of the door leading to the inside of the asylum to avoid the debris that would be thrown towards her as the helicopter landed on the helipad.

***

“Alright, guys, let’s prepare to land.” Reno said through the headsets, causing everyone but Cloud to wake up from their naps. “We have arrived at the asylum.”

“Geez, couldn’t you have given us a better warning?” Zack snapped, causing Reno to snicker into the headset. “We _were_ sleeping, Reno!”

“Sweetie, my voice _is_ an alarm clock – a very _sexy_ alarm clock. You don’t need anything else to wake you up.”

“Sexy to whom, I dare ask? Even Cissnei tells me that your voice is annoying!”

“Let us keep the headphones free of such inane bickering, children.” Tseng interjected, sighing. “I know it’s been stressful, but really? Petty insults towards each other; I seriously expected better from you two.”

“We’re sorry, Tseng.” They both replied.

Rick laughed a little, and Gast Jr shook his head. Sephiroth just shot a look at Zack, which told him ‘I expect better behavior from my SOLDIERS.'

Everyone buckled themselves in, knowing that a descent from the skies is never an easy task to perform, no matter how good the pilot is. Helicopters are rather unstable, as it is, and one little mishap could kill everyone on board. But Reno had landed the helicopter with precision, and when he gave the okay for everyone to get out of the helicopter; they unbuckled themselves, except for the stretcher. Rick and Gast Jr were going to do that instead, since they'll be rushing Cloud right to the medical wing of the asylum. When the doors opened, Dr. S was standing there, an angry look on her face. Gast Jr stepped off first and said 'Hello' to Dr. S.

"Gast Jr, where is Rick? He obviously doesn't know the asylum. If he's going to be here, he needs to go now to get a feel for the place." Dr. S said, without returning the 'Hello' greeting. Greetings can come later, this is more vital!

"I'm right here." Rick said, also jumping out of the helicopter. "I am sorry but I am not leaving my patient's side until he's in the medical wing. I'll get a feel for the place later. Right now, Cloud is _my_ priority."

"Excuse me?” She replied, blinking her eyes quickly three times. “This is _my_ asylum, and we're going to do things _my_ way." Dr. S snapped, pointing her right pointer finger into her chest every time she said 'my'.

"I am already risking a lot to allow three escapees into my asylum, and risking a lot to pay _you_ under the table.” She pushed her finger into his chest when she said ‘you’, staring him in the eyes.

“Just so you know, we will be doing things _my way_ or else I can easily back out of this. I could very easily tell Shin-Ra that you are illegally harboring escapees. Not to be a bitch or anything, but I have a lot at risk here. In case you need a reminder, my patients aren't exactly the most stable in all of Midgar. _"_ Dr. S said, pointing her finger in Rick's chest, getting into his face. "My job, in case you haven't noticed, is _quite_ complicated and I don't have the patience for games. So, we will do as I say!”

"Whoa, you don't need to be a bitch!" Zack said, and Dr. S glared at him.

"Excuse me? I have all _right_ to be a bitch!” She snapped out, walking towards Zack. “This is my asylum, we will follow my rules! I am risking over 5,000 patients _lives_ to assist you in keeping yours, so I would advise that you shut your damn mouth if you wish to stay here!" She snapped at Zack. "In case you forgot, an asylum is _not_ a luxury hotel! My nurses, doctors and I are not going to cater to your every need!"

Zack went to go snap back at Dr. S, but Sephiroth held him back, while giving him a 'shut up now' look. Turning to Dr. S, Sephiroth apologized.

"Dr. S. I understand, and thank you, for risking your job for us. Please forgive Zack, he is stressed.” Sephiroth bowed slightly towards her in respect, continuing his speech.

“We have spent the last three years in a glass tank filled with Mako. During these three years of captivity, we have been experimented and operated on; we have been violated in ways you couldn't possibly fathom.” He took a deep breath, and shivered at the memories.

“Not only this, we have also witnessed our close friend on the stretcher inside of the helicopter die so many times, we can't even keep count anymore. Our friend is not well; our captor tormented him the most. If you were to see how badly damaged our friend is, physically and mentally, you would understand.” He swallowed hard, shaking his head sadly. 

“Please do not worry; we will _not_ put your patients at risk. We plan on isolating ourselves in wherever you have decided to place us. We're not thrilled about being here ourselves, but it was either this or we died in the hands of a madman. I am very sorry, and we thank you." Sephiroth said, and bowed before Dr. S.

Dr. S took a deep breath, quickly calming down. Shaking her head, she looked at Sephiroth, and motioned with her hand for him to stand up. "I understand. Please, don't feel the need to isolate yourselves. It's not fair to you.” She frowned at Sephiroth, and then sighed.

“I just ask that for your first week here, you _slowly_ introduce yourselves to my patients. Most of them are victims of the Sector Five explosion, and they are still very high-strung.” She looked up at the plates above her head, collecting her thoughts.

“The rest of my patients were placed here at the asylum because their families felt they couldn't raise an 'invalid', if you will, properly. I am warning you, some of my patients are children, and some of the adults here have the mentality of a child. Please understand that they're going to ask you questions, so be prepared. They will be repetitive questions. Please have patience with them.” She lowered her sight back to Zack and Sephiroth and pointed at their swords.

“Seeing how you both have weapons, I have to ask that you lock them up for my patients’ safety. Security will collect them from you after you check in. I do not need my patients dying because they impaled themselves on huge swords. Bad enough I deal with multiple suicides a week. I don't need accidental deaths on top of it." Dr. S explained.

"I understand." Sephiroth and Zack both said.

"Now, Rick and you two," Dr. S started, pointing at Sephiroth and Zack, "Please get inside of the asylum and wait for me. Please don't go wandering, my patients are starting to wake up, and my orderlies are starting to make their rounds. I can't have you upsetting them. Gast Jr and I will get your friend. Tseng, after we get Rick’s patient, you're free to leave." Dr. S said.

“Thank you, Dr. S. I am leaving you my subordinate, Reno, to stay with Sephiroth and Zack. You do not need to worry about paying for him to be there, I am directly paying him myself under the books.”

Dr. S nodded in acknowledgement as Reno hopped out of the helicopter. Tseng pointed at Reno to follow Zack, Rick and Sephiroth inside.

Rick went to go protest, but Sephiroth shook his head in a way that made Rick keep quiet. Dr. S pointed them to the doorway that they were to enter, the same doorway that she had ducked under when the helicopter landed. She asked them to wait by the elevator. The quad walked through the doorway into the asylum in silence, and stood by the elevator like she asked.

On the rooftop, Dr. S and Gast Jr walked inside of the helicopter. Dr. S looked down at Cloud, and had to sigh sadly at him. Gast Jr unlatched the stoppers that were holding the rear wheels of the stretcher, while Dr. S unlatched the stoppers that were holding the front wheels. Dr. S then removed the IV bag from the pole it was hanging from, and placed it lightly on Cloud's chest. She then dismounted the portable EKG machine from its stand, and placed it next to Cloud's head. Nodding at Gast Jr, they worked to move Cloud out of the helicopter and into the asylum.

The ramp from the helicopter to the rooftop was already down, so Gast Jr walked out first, backwards, with Tseng guiding him. Dr. S and Gast Jr removed the stretcher from the helicopter without difficulties, and ran Cloud inside so no one would see him. Tseng placed the ramp back inside of the helicopter, and then slammed the door shut. Walking to the pilot side of the helicopter, he hopped in, slammed the door shut, and took off.

After Gast Jr and Dr. S wheeled Cloud into the warmth of the asylum, she saw Rick, Sephiroth and Zack standing at the elevator like she asked.

"Follow me to the medical wing, please. I have to get you all checked in." She said.

"Do we have to use our real names? I don't want to be found..." Zack said.

"Yes, unfortunately, you do. Nobody is going find your records, ok? HIPPA does not allow anyone, except those you designate in your health care proxy, to inquire about you." She replied.

"At least we have some control! I only need one person to ask about me. But Hojo…" Zack said.

"Hojo doesn't know what asylum you're in, anyway. I never mentioned a place, and neither did Rick." Gast Jr said.

"Trust me, we thought this through." Rick said.

"Well, that is comforting then. But that asshole still has his ways." Zack retorted.

Sephiroth shook his head of his comrade’s complaining, and hit the down button on the wall, to call the elevator up to them. After a minute, the elevator pinged, sounding its arrival. The doors opened, and all seven of them walked into the elevator. Dr. S was the last to get in after guiding Cloud in with Gast's help. She pressed the "B" button, commanding the elevator to take them down to the basement where the tunnels leading to the medical wing and security offices were. The ride down to the basement was done in silence. When they arrived at the basement, the elevator doors pinged open and they followed Dr. S through the tunnels, wheeling Cloud’s stretcher with Gast Jr.

Rick and Sephiroth were walking behind Gast Jr, while Reno and Zack were behind the two of them.

As they were walking through the tunnels, Dr. S was explaining to the group that the medical wing was on the opposite side of where they would be staying inside of the asylum. It was warm inside of the tunnels, but dimly lit. Halfway through their walk to the medical wing, Sephiroth placed his left hand on Rick’s right shoulder, pulling him to a dead stop. Reno and Zack almost bumped into them.

“Seph; are you okay?” Zack asked, concerned.

“No. I am feeling very light headed. I – I need to sit down…” He replied, softly. “Zack, help me lean against the wall. Rick, stop Gast Jr and Dr. S – keep an eye on Cloud.”

Rick nodded in acknowledgement, and ran ahead to tell Gast and Dr. S what was going on. So far, Cloud didn’t seem like he was about to go into a panic or start twitching, but Rick started to unwrap the blankets from around Cloud anyways. He removed them from his shoulders, head and arms, being careful to not snag the needle and tubing from his chest and arm. He left the blankets to rest at his waist. Rick then removed the blankets from Cloud’s feet and legs, to rest them one inch above his knees. Dr. S raised an eyebrow at Rick, and Rick explained that the last time Sephiroth had become lethargic, Cloud ended up having a seizure. She made Rick stay next to Cloud, and she walked back towards Sephiroth.

“Hey, are you okay?” She asked, as she kneeled in front of him, while pulling a PHS out from her jacket pocket, in case she needed another stretcher. “Are you going to be able to walk?”

“Yeah, are you going to be okay?” Zack asked, sitting down to the right of Sephiroth.

Reno just stood there, watching, unsure of what he could possibly do. He didn’t have the Mako enhancement of a SOLDIER, so he wouldn’t be able to support Sephiroth in any way, shape or form.

“No. Zack, Jenova is fucking _screaming_ in my head. I’m about to…”

Sephiroth didn’t even finish his sentence before he rolled his eyes into the back of his head, and passed out. He slammed hard into Zack, causing Zack to stumble to his right side. Dr. S flipped her PHS open, and called for assistance and a stretcher to the tunnels and to be quick about it. Reno ran up to Gast Jr and Rick, and told them that Sephiroth had passed out. Reno glanced at Cloud, and noticed Cloud was still calm. Reno locked eyes with Rick, who was also watching Cloud to see what he would do, if anything.

Within five minutes, two orderlies came down to where they were all standing, and asked Dr. S who needed help, and what happened. Zack managed to get himself out from underneath Sephiroth’s dead weight, and said Sephiroth needed help. Zack asked Dr. S to ask them to keep the stretcher still, and he would get Sephiroth on it. She nodded, and repeated Zack’s request to the orderlies. Dr. S folded back the blanket on the stretcher, and nodded at Zack.

Nodding back, Zack squatted before him, and wrapped his arms underneath Sephiroth’s, bringing them chest to chest. Standing up slowly, he dragged Sephiroth over to the waiting stretcher, and laid his upper body onto it. He then lifted Sephiroth’s legs onto the stretcher. Masamune was still on Sephiroth’s back, sheathed. Dr. S covered Sephiroth up with the blanket, and waved the two orderlies off with Sephiroth.

As they were leaving, Rick heard Cloud mutter quietly “No… don’t go…” sadly. Reno heard him too, and looked down in shock. The further Sephiroth was rolled away, the more panicked Cloud became.

“Dr. S! Make them come back!” Rick said.

“I thought he was comatose! What is going on?” She asked.

“Bring them back, before Cloud has a panic attack! Please!” Zack begged. “Long story short, when Sephiroth passes out, an alien bitch that was implanted into Sephiroth and Cloud, starts yelling at the two of them. If Cloud can’t sense Sephiroth around he’ll probably seize up or worse! Bring Sephiroth back, please! Cloud’s scared!”

Dr. S noticed that Cloud had his eyes squeezed shut, and started turning his head to the left, then the right, rapidly and repeatedly. She called back the orderlies, and made them rest Sephiroth next to Cloud. Rick then placed Sephiroth’s right hand on top of Cloud’s left hand, and Cloud started to slowly calm down.

“This is very unusual.” She said, noticing how Cloud calmed down.

“I honestly think Cloud and Sephiroth better stay together in the medical wing.” Rick said. “If they are separated, we’re going to have our hands full.”

“I will agree; they will stay together then.”

Rick looked towards Zack, apologetically. “I’m sorry Zack; I guess you’ll be alone for a while.”

“I have Reno here for company, so I’ll be okay. I guess.” Zack said, solemnly. “Not saying that Reno is bad company, because he isn’t. But, you know I’m going to be a bag full of worry about Cloud and Sephiroth.”

“I understand, dude.” Reno replied. “I’ll join you in the worry department, you won’t be alone.”

Everyone nodded in understanding. Dr. S told everyone to start moving back to the medical wing, after making sure her orderlies would keep up with the pace of Gast Jr and Rick so Sephiroth and Cloud aren’t separated. She stood in front of the group, and started walking, leading the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO VERY SORRY. I HATE WHAT I DID. But I would rather get the suffering done early. Cloud is going to get stronger, I PROMISE!
> 
> Fact time! Insane asylums were always severely understaffed. I have learned a lot from opacity.us, and from research. Even back in the 1880’s when asylums were being erected, overpopulation was already an issue. Overpopulation was a constant issue all the way through the 1980’s and 1990’s when the asylums were being phased out. There are still functional asylums out there, but nowhere near as many as there once was. I think overpopulation is still an issue to this day, but do correct me if I am wrong! 
> 
> (1)Intracardiac Injection, Wikipedia, 19 January 2020.   
> I’m no nurse, so I have to research procedures to make sure they’re accurate. Honestly, that procedure is totally obsolete and used in emergencies only. This would be an emergency, so it fits. GOD that procedure sounds painful as fuck. Even my own ribs, chest and heart ached writing that.


End file.
